Back Against the Wall
by geeses
Summary: Something did upset her about being in Slytherin. It shouldn't have upset her, really, she knew that. And yet it did, in more ways then she knew. Maybe is was because she had been replaced by a bean pole of a boy with awkwardly long arms and platinum blonde hair.


**Hello! This is my first story posted here, yay! It is going to be a multichapter story, so expect more to come. I'm thinking of writing eventually a series about what I think Rose would be like in each of the four Hogwarts houses, and in turn how her relationship with Scorpius changes. So here is the first in this series, Rose Weasley as a Slytherin, which I absolutely love seeing her in.**

**Anyway, enough of my babbling. I hope you all enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, J.K Rowling is queen of HP.  
Note: I didn't proofread yet. Whoops.**

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Rose doesn't like being a Weasley. She doesn't like the enormous family gatherings and their chaotic nature, she doesn't like her hoards and hoards of relatives she has to pretend to enjoy spending time with. She doesn't like the constant fear of not living up to what she is expected, she doesn't like the standards that have been set. "Rose, honey, your cousin James made quidditch captain! Why don't you train as much as him?" they would all say, falsely sweet smiles as they looked upon her curiously, as though she was a failure for her lack of commitment to the sport. "Rose, Victorie just became of fully fledged Auror, we are celebrating next week. I can't wait until we see you become and Auror, just like your father and Uncle Harry!" But Rose doesn't want to be an Auror, she doesn't wish to follow faithfully in the footsteps of her father. And yet everyone expects so much from a girl who simply feels so little.

Rose doesn't care for her family much either. They are so fake, and it infuriates her so much. James is seen as the golden boy, the one who has his act together, but Rose knows he parties too much, and his grades are slipping through his fingers. Lily is the Gryffindor princess in the eyes of the public, and yet Rose has seen her spoiled tantrums when things don't go quite her way. Teddy and Victorie are seen as the perfect couple, though it's no secret to Rose the scandalous unfaithful acts both have committed. They all seem so damn _golden_ and Rose knows all so well that it's all an act. And she can't just sit by and pretend she's okay with it because she's not, she can't just sit by and pretend she enjoys the company of these strangers.

She's different, she knows it. She doesn't mind. No, in fact, Rose quite enjoys it. Out of the twelve Weasley children, herself included, Rose was the only Slytherin. Sure Louis was a Ravenclaw, and Molly was a Hufflepuff, but those weren't statements. No, the Weasley family was famous for their long line of Gryffindors, and Rose Weasley, little Rose, was the one to really break it. Sure she was scared at first, scared of what her father would think, what her family would think, what the general populace of the wizarding community would think. And then she learned that she just didn't care anymore, it was her life, not theirs. And she would do what she pleased with it.

Something did upset her about being in Slytherin. It shouldn't have upset her, really, she knew that. And yet it did, in more ways then she knew.

Initially, Rose hoped her bold sorting into the house of silver and green would make quite the impact on her family, that perhaps they would see the error of their ways. Her hope was in vain, however, and she basically alienated her. Hogwarts saw her as the oddball, the black sheep, the one Weasley that was most likely to take a turn for the worst. Most students didn't try to make friends with her, why should they, when they could just befriend her much more bubbly, much more friendly family members? The family members in the safe and noble house of Gryffindor.

Not only that, but Rose was replaced. Replaced by a bean pole of a boy with awkwardly long arms and platinum blonde hair. While she was the black sheep of the Weasley clan, he was the black sheep of the Malfoy, first in centuries to be sorted into the house of garnet and gold. Students flocked around him in awe, hoping to catch a glimpse of the "reincarnated" Sirius Black. Albus, the only cousin Rose commonly associated herself with (she actually liked Albus quite a lot, he didn't succumb to the pressures of the family name like many others did), took the young Scorpius Malfoy under his wing, and while the lost Rose to Slytherin, the gained the young Malfoy heir.

There was nothing wrong with him, and yet Rose couldn't help but hate him. He was friendly, too friendly in fact; she had heard all too many stories when the boy simply couldn't say no to anyone. He was charming; admirers came from a variety of houses and years, all enchanted by his sweet words and his toothy smile. He was even athletic, leading the Gryffindor quidditch team to victory the last three years running. And finally he was intelligent, perhaps Rose's only competition in their year and she hated it. The worst of all, ironically, Scorpius Malfoy was genuinely this person. Draco Malfoy had reformed after the war, and reportedly supported his only son through thick and through thin, and therefore Scorpius was allowed to live his life as he pleased.

Scorpius Malfoy was the bane of her existence.

He was everything Rose wasn't, and she couldn't get over just how _unfair_ it all was. He couldn't see the silver platter he was happily eating off of, he couldn't see how desperately Rose wished to be in his position and how envious she was. He was blissfully ignorant to the fury of the Slytherin redhead.

Why couldn't Rose be oblivious to the pressures of society? Why couldn't she be content succumbing to the wishes of her father? No, instead, she was painfully aware and very, _very, _bitter.

She was eternally angry at her bad luck, at her fate, and was waiting desperately for her luck to change.

"Rosie, over here!" She entered the great hall awkwardly, her knapsack with her school things slung casually over one arm, her eyes searching for the face that accompanied the voice she so easily recognized. Why Albus was calling her, Rose didn't know, he rarely spoke to her during breakfast on account of their differences of house. She would blissfully eat with her fellow Slytherins while Al had the company of their family. She gave him a small smile when her cornflower blue eyes spotted him, at the end of the Gryffindor table surrounded by his housemates. He gave her a cheesy, typical Albus Potter grin in return, motioning for her to come closer. Rose looked wistfully to her friends at the Slytherin table for a moment, only to see that they were deep in conversation, Figuring it couldn't hurt to spare her cousin a few moments, Rose slowly made her way to the table of garnet and gold.

'Albus, I told you to never call my Rosie," Rose greeted, wrinkling her nose in distaste for the nickname. Rose was always against the use of nicknames, she didn't see the purpose. Parents who named their child "William" just to have them go by "Will" always perplexed Rose, why not just call them Will in the first place?

"And I told you to just call me Al, _Rose,"_ Albus grinned back cheekily, causing Rose to dramatically roll her eyes.

"Your name isn't Al though, _Albus,"_ Her tone came across rather peeved, but her face told otherwise, a large grin was plastered across her face. Albus barked a laugh, a motioned for Rose to take a seat beside him. She happily complied. "So what did you call me over for?"

"We were thinking of getting a friendly game of quidditch on after class, and we were wondering if Slytherin's star keeper would care to join us?" Albus motioned to his group of friends, many of the faces Rose had known for quite awhile. Lorcan, one of the Scammander twins was looking at her expectantly, smiling brightly and nodding, as if urging her to agree. His brother, Lysander, was sitting beside him, looking disinterested in the conversation, and Rose could only assume this was because he never played quidditch himself. Lydia Longbottom was on the other side of Albus, talking to her older brother Gavin, both smiling happily. And finally, Rose met a pair of dark grey eyes owned by the one and only Scorpius Malfoy. She knew as soon as the questioned was asked that he would be among the ones playing, but she couldn't say she was pleased.

"I don't count enough players for a full quidditch match," Rose countered, quickly looking away from Scorpius while avoiding commitment. She wasn't quite sure yet if she wanted to play, she wasn't as comfortable with this group of people despite their history. They had always been Albus's friends, not hers, and the separation of houses only made the divide bigger.

"We weren't going to play a full game. We were just going to nullify the beaters and seeker and play with just keepers and chasers. Lysander isn't going to play, so we need you to make the teams even," Albus looked at her pleadingly, an expectant smile gracing her face. Rose scowled slightly, her willpower folding under his gaze.

"Why don't you ask James or Lily?" She tried, and hurt flashed across Albus's face as he realized her attempts to avoid the game.

"You know why I can't ask James, it would just turn into practice if he were there. And Lily is an absolutely rubbish keeper. For being such a brill seeker she really can't play anything else,"

Rose sighed heftily, realizing she was being sucked in. She really didn't want to play with practically the entire Gryffindor quidditch team, she wasn't used to their playing style and she might as well be branded a traitor.

"Really Albus, I can't—"

"Please?"

"—Fine…" Albus's face immediately lit up and Rose scowled.

"Brilliant! Rose, you are the best!" He was gathering his things for class she noticed, and with a quick glance around the hall she noticed it was about time for class. However, Rose knew he was in no threat of being late, and therefore Albus was just trying to make an escape before she could change her mind. He pecked her on the cheek before practically dashing out of the great hall, waving over his shoulder. "See you in transfiguration!"

She chewed on her lip, debating whether or not Albus would yell at her for ditching their mock quidditch match. However, she was pulled out of her thoughts by a delicate hand being placed on her shoulder.

"Thanks for joining Rose, I'll see you later, yea?" She glanced up to see Scorpius smiling at her, and Rose couldn't help but let a bemused expression cross her face. She had never been particularly friendly with Scorpius, despite his friendship with Al. She always resented him, and therefore she let her personal feelings get in the way of any potential friendship. It never really mattered anyway, in the past, Scorpius never really paid her much mind unless they were thrown into social situations together and they were forced to make small talk. That's why Rose was quite stunned by his statement. She nodded mutely, and was even more awestruck when he gave a small laugh, obviously amused by her silence.

But with a quick wave, he was off with the rest of his friends, and Rose was left alone to collect her thoughts before her first class.

"So why were you so friendly with Scorpius earlier? I thought you didn't really like him?"

Rose looked up from her charms notes and glanced over to her good friend, Aribella, to see a rather conniving look that Rose never liked to see. She heaved a large sigh; preparing herself for the interrogation she imagined Aribella spent all period planning.

"We weren't being _friendly_, he touched my shoulder and it was weird. And I don't like him," She replied in a clipped whisper, indicating with her hands that she wished to return to her note taking. Aribella smirked at her, obviously revealing that she had no intention of stopping her questions.

"That's not what I saw! Scorpius seemed very cozy sitting next to you,"

"You must have been blind then, Scorpius and I aren't friendly, we aren't even acquaintances."

"Then why did he touch your arm, why was he positively beaming when you agreed to play quidditch?" Rose scoffed rather loudly at this, earning a rather peeved look from their professor. Rose apologized shamefully, and Aribella didn't look the least bit ashamed.

"He was only happy because they found a keeper to play with them. And I bet he's only happy because the bastard is cocky and he thinks he can beat me," Rose forcibly turned back to her work, making a rather large spectacle about the fact that she was listen to the professor again. She began to mutter obscenities under her breath, hoping once and for all Aribella would let it go.

"He is Gryffindor's star chaser," Rose mustered up her best, most spiteful glare and set it full force on her best friend. Unfortunately, it achieved the opposite effect, and Aribella merely laughed.

"And I'm considered Slytherin's star keeper, whoop-de-do. Now let me work!"

"No! And it doesn't count; there is only one keeper position. Scorpius has three others to compete with,"

"Merlin Aribella, who's side are you on?" Aribella smirked, and Rose wished desperately for this class to be over.

"Will you two shut-up already?" Rose finally smiled, glancing to the other side of Aribella to see their other good friend and housemate Christopher. Ever the diligent student he was scribbling down notes, glancing up over at Rose and Aribella to see if they acknowledged his outburst.

"Thank you Christopher!" Rose exclaimed in a rather loud manner, and she realized a second too late she was too loud for the professor's liking.

"Miss Weasley, you've been disruptive all class. I'd like to see you this afternoon in my office for detention. After dinner, eight o'clock sharp. Do you understand?" The woman looked down at Rose sternly, and Rose felt herself shrinking in her seat. Bloody hell, figures she wouldn't pay any mind to her two best friends.

"Yes, Professor Whitman," Rose didn't dare argue, Whitman was renowned for her strict demeanor and her low tolerance for nonsense. She had to literally bite her tongue to prevent the retorts bubbling in her throat. Her professor gave her a stern nod before resuming her lesson. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Aribella and Christopher shaking with silent laughter. Rose fumed.

"Serves you right, you disturber of the peace," Aribella was looking far too amused at her own good fortune, and was quite obviously taking the opportunity to poke fun at Rose's bad luck.

"You bloody hypocrite, now shut up before you get me two nights of detention,"

Rose managed to get to her next class without much trouble. Aribella had decided to keep quiet for the rest of the class and Rose avoided another detention. She would swear on her life the Professor Whitman kept giving her peculiar, rather evil looks. Rose was relieved, however, her class this block was potions and she really did love it. Professor Slughorn was rather ancient, she really didn't know how he was still alive, and he was really rather creepy too, but the subject matter was absolutely riveting and Rose usually always enjoyed Potions class. Therefore, she was rather early to her class, like always, and found her favorite table which was right in the back of the room. It was close enough to the supply cupboard that she didn't have to walk that far, but far enough away so that she wasn't in the direct pathway and therefore her fellow students weren't a threat to her potions.

She didn't share this class with Aribella nor Christopher, Aribella dropped it in favor of a job in the Department of Mysteries, and Christopher wished to be a curse breaker so neither found N.E.W.T level potions to be of benefit to them. Therefore she was arrived alone to her favorite table, and began to immerse herself in the directions of the potion they were assigned that day.

"Mind if I sit here?" Rose jumped, not expecting _that_ voice to be the one to break her thought process. Her surprise made her knock over her ink bottle, effectively spilling it across her page of notes and the robes of the students waiting patiently for her answer.

"Shite! I'm so sorry!" She hastily began blotting at his robes with anything absorbent she could find, painfully unaware of that fact that she was a witch and therefore fixing his robes had a rather easy solution. He began laughing light-heartedly at her, no doubt amused by her frantic behavior, and quickly grabbed her hands before she caused more damage to the two of them. Rose finally lifted her gaze, catching sight of the two unmistakable grey eyes that she had been seeing too much of lately.

"_Scourgify,"_ Scorpius pointed his wand at his robes and they were instantly clean, and he smiled rather smugly to himself. Rose frowned, turning her attention back to her ruined notes. "I'm afraid there isn't much hope for those, sorry," He murmured, following her gaze.

"Why are you sorry?" She frowned, puzzled at Scorpius's sincere sounding apology. Rose began to clean up the mess, banishing her old notes while fishing for a new piece of parchment to begin new ones. She wanted to blame him, really, except that deep down she knew it was her fault.

"I shouldn't have scared you. But if you insist on it being your fault, can you make it up to me by letting me sit beside you?" Rose quickly scanned the room to see the state of the other tables, and she noticed that few students had wandered in here yet and plenty of stations were completely available. So why did he want to sit here, next to her? Rose knew she never really hid her distaste for him before, so sure he knew she didn't really care for him?

"I don't know if you saw, but there are plenty of open seats?" Rose came across rather bitchy, and surprisingly that wasn't her intention. But she was really rather confused as to why Scorpius had decided to come and try to sit beside her. Scorpius furrowed his brows, a thin frown crossing his lips as his eyes swept across the room.

"Well…" Scorpius began his mouth agape as though he was trying to come up with something to say. "What's gotten you in such a piss poor mood?" He finally blurted rather bluntly, and Rose was quite affronted by his audacity. People rarely spoke to her that was, she had the infamous Weasley temper and many people assumed she was worse than the rest on account of the silver and green tie around her neck. She mustered up her best glare (her mother taught it to her when she was seven, it was to be used on her father when he ate the last biscuit) and set it full force on Scorpius.

"If you must know I have an absolutely rubbish best friend who landed me into detention today. And theoretically I could blame you for that too. So piss –"

"Ladies and Gentlemen, please take your seats! Today we will begin discussing the key ingredients in Wolfsbane," Damn her rubbish luck. Slughorn cut her off mid-sentence, and on account of his rather abrupt exclamation, the ferret-known-as-Malfoy automatically sat down directly beside her without a moment's hesitation. And then he had the gall to smile sheepishly at her when she scowled at him.

It was perhaps the most awkward potions class she had ever had, perhaps the most awkward class ever. They both were completely silent the entire time, but Rose was precisely aware of everything single thing that he was doing. And he kept _looking_ at her, as though he was analyzing everything she was doing. She could only imagine he was mentally berating her for her poor chopping techniques or something equally ridiculous. Ruddy bastard. It was probably just some elaborate plan to sabotage her academics so he could be first in their year.

Rose was practically cheering when Slughorn concluded the class, glad to put as much space between her and Scorpius as possible. She reached down to slip her books in her bag, however, when Rose straightened back up he was standing right before her, a rather stupid smile plastered across his face.

"Don't forget about quidditch later, Rose! I look forward to playing with you!"

Okay, what the hell was that about?

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**I'm not exactly happy with the way I ended this, but I was in a hurry to post it and it was getting late so it's kind of rushed. I wanted some things to be said, and they'll be said in the future! I hope this was alright though, I would love to hear some input! Thank you all for reading! Until the next installment!**

OH, and I may decide to switch the POVs up a bit, I haven't decided yet. Perhaps some of you would like to give me your input on the matter? Thanks!

-Geeses


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